That itself could be an entire conversation on how police treat immigrant families versus how they treat white people. Then the next, and suddenly we’re tumbling through Lila’s shoddy investigation into who commited the crime when it becomes apparent that the police are pointing fingers at her family.Ĭourtesy of Mia P Manansala | Penguin Random House Then we take a breather, and it’s onto the next piece of exposition. Wait, there’s more – her best friend is a barista conveniently located next door and is available at the drop of a hat to assist Lila with anything she needs, including when her ex-boyfriend keels over and dies right in the middle of his dessert. When she gets back she finds out her high school ex-boyfriend, ten years into the future, is an asshole food critic who slams every restaurant in town and bullies her aunt. Quite a mouthful – but wait, there’s more. We meet Lila (who mispronounces her Filipino name in order to make it easier for others, which is an unfortunate truth among any minorities in America) who recently moved back home to help take care of her aunt’s Filipino restaurant after breaking up with her partner and dropping out of college in Chicago. Starting off with the exposition on the first page. I love a book exploring other cultures, giving readers a refreshing protagonist with a bubbly personality that isn’t carved out by her ethnicity.īut there were so many things wrong. My friends all rated it 3+ stars (I’m beginning to simply not trust anyone at this point) and it was a short, quick read that could fit in nicely between patients at work. I love thrillers, adult fiction, and beautiful bright covers. And it pains me so much to say so, because this book has everything I could’ve wanted. That’s kind of what it’s like reading Arsenic and Adobo.

Do you ever just really have to go to the bathroom in a movie theater, and you can’t wait for the important scene to play out, so you wiggle out of the aisle and duck under the screen and sprint towards a bathroom only to come back and have no idea what’s happening?

Adobo and arsenic